


How Alarming

by nutalexfanfic



Series: Polis 433 Universe [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Clexa, F/F, FFAU, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 00:58:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20462429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nutalexfanfic/pseuds/nutalexfanfic
Summary: Prompt: Clarke and Ellie in a fire and Lexa has to save them.





	How Alarming

**Author's Note:**

> This work takes a place two and a half years after the current events of Polis 433.

Clarke leaned in the doorway to the bedroom of their rented cabin, watching her wife methodically don her suit, each movement so careful and precise. Her Army verteran had never truly been meant for the military, but the soldier in her had never really disappeared. The order, the structure that Lexa lived by, the sureness of her presence. They were all the things about Lexa that made her so solid, so resilient and dependable for the people around her. She was so steady, so unwavering in the face of anything, and it showed in everything she did. From the perfect press of her collar to the razor sharp crease of her dress pants, everything was attended to. 

Clarke’s eyes caught on Lexa’s strong fingers, deftly fastening the buttons on her shirt. Those hands held magnitudes. They were the hands that pulled people out of fires, the same hands that held her so gently in the middle of the night and did things to her soul that she’d never recover from. _ God, you have no idea how perfect you are, do you? _Clarke thought.

It was when Lexa went for the tie hanging over the standing mirror that Clarke stepped in, making her presence known. “Let me,” she said quietly, her gaze locking with Lexa’s through the mirror. There was something so wonderfully dangerous in that gaze, and she knew that if they weren’t careful, they’d be late to the wedding. 

“You look incredible,” Lexa murmured as Clarke slipped in front of her and ran her palms over Lexa’s shirt, needlessly smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles. Really, she just wanted a reason to touch. Lexa was an impossible combination of hard muscle and soft skin, and feeling her under her fingers never failed to stir her.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, hot shot,” Clarke said, her voice tight with thinly veiled emotion. She took the silk of the tie between her fingers and ran it smooth. “This is nice.” 

  
“Ellie picked it out.” 

Clarke smiled and carefully placed it behind Lexa’s neck, threading it around the starched collar that stood up from Lexa’s shoulders. “What knot would you like?” 

Lexa couldn’t help herself. She caught Clarke’s hands and brought them to her lips, kissing each knuckle until she could feel the heat of Clarke’s body emanating off of her. “I can’t think with you looking like that, standing this close to me.” Lexa released her hands, and slid her own down Clarke’s sides, pulling her in until they were connected in every possible place. 

“Lex,” Clarke gasped when Lexa’s lips met the sensitive spot halfway up her throat. “We can’t.” 

“We have time.” 

“We don’t.” 

“We do.” Lexa dropped her head and kissed Clarke’s bare shoulder, then worked her way up Clarke’s throat, leaving kisses that set Clarke’s skin ablaze. Clarke’s fingers curled into Lexa’s hair. She was helpless to the desire thrumming through her at Lexa’s touch.

“God, Lexa. We can’t be late.” 

“I can be quick.” Without warning, Lexa looped her hands under Clarke’s thighs and scooped her up. Instinctively, Clarke wrapped her legs around Lexa’s waist, forcing her tight, pencil line dress to slide up around her hips. 

“My dress,” Clarke gasped, “it’ll wrinkle.” 

“I’m about to take it off. It won’t matter in a second,” Lexa said, her voice rough with desire. Lexa kissed her deeply until Clarke was lightheaded and laying on the bed, Lexa on top of her. 

“Your shirt,” Clarke said weakly, running her hands along the ridges of new creases. 

Lexa looked down briefly at her shirt, then up at the gorgeous sight of her wife. Her blue eyes were almost indigo, her lips were flushed and swollen. Lexa had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. “I’ll have a jacket on.” 

Clarke rolled her eyes, but it was quickly followed by a fond smile. She cupped Lexa’s face, her hand trembling from the racing of her heart. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?” 

Lexa let out a shaky breath, overwhelmed by the magnificence of her wife. “How much?” 

Clarke hooked her hand around the back of Lexa’s neck and tugged her down. “Let me show you.” 

***

There was a knock at the door right as Clarke was slipping back into her dress. Her hair was a mess, but she’d worry about that in the car. She grinned and blushed as Lexa shot her a wink from across the room. 

“Your tie,” she said, gesturing to the floor. 

“I’ve got it. You get the door.” 

“My hair’s a mess.” 

“You’re radiant. Besides, it’s just your mom.” 

“_ Exactly. _” 

Lexa only laughed and scooped up the tie, using it gently to whip at Clarke’s legs. “Get going. She’ll start to wonder.” 

“She’s not going to have to wonder as soon as she sees me,” Clarke grumbled under her breath. She went to the door and smiled as innocently as she could as she opened it. She immediately whithered under her mother’s piercing, knowing gaze. 

After a long moment of study, Abby shook her head and sighed. “It’s as if you were teenagers still, I mean, _ honestly, _ Clarke. _ ” _

All Clarke could do was try to hide her blush as she stepped aside and let her mother pass, grumbling something about needing to speak with her daughter-in-law. Ellie trailed behind her, her attention engrossed on a piece of paper she held in her hands. 

Clarke tapped her on the head as her daughter started to pass without a greeting. At the tap, Ellie looked up at her and beamed. That sweet smile was enough to steal Clarke’s breath away. Motherhood filled her with so much joy it threatened to stop her heart at times.

“Hi mommy,” Ellie chirped, holding up the paper she had been so diligently focused on when she’d entered behind her grandmother. “I drew this!” 

“You did?” Clarke asked, matching her four-year-old’s enthusiasm as she knelt down in her tight dress as best she could to take a closer look. Crudely, but oh so beautifully, Clarke could make out their little family in the shakey, colorful lines of a crayon wielded by a child. “It’s amazing, baby! I love it so much.” 

Under the praise, Ellie seemed to grow an inch, her chest puffing out and her head held high. “I did it by myself!” 

“I am so proud of you!” 

“Clarke, honey we’ve got to go. Are you ready?” Abby asked, walking back in with Lexa on her heels. 

“You have Ellie’s clothes in the car?”

“Yes, we’ll get her dressed at the barn. The less time she’s in it, the less chances there are of her spilling something all over it.”

“Sweetheart, jacket,” Clarke called to Lexa, gesturing behind her to the open door of their bedroom. 

“Ah.” Lexa nodded and jogged back, swiping her jacket from the floor with an embarrassed grin. The sheets were still a complete mess, and there was no chance in hell Abby hadn’t taken in the evidence and known exactly what had occurred there. But how could she care? Her life was perfect, and she was wildly happy. Her wife was the love of her life, and Ellie completed her in a way no one else could. She finally had a family of her own, and nothing filled her with more pride. 

“What are you thinking about?” Clarke asked softly, her hand automatically finding its way to Lexa’s back as they closed up the cabin and headed to the van that would take them to their friend’s wedding. 

“You,” Lexa answered honestly. “And Ellie. How happy you both make me.” 

Clarke’s stomach did a swoop and she felt herself fall a little further in love again. Each and every time she thought she couldn’t possibly feel more for this incredible woman, Lexa proved her wrong. 

She smiled, and her eyes brimmed with tears of overwhelming happiness and affection. She knew it was the occasion making her emotional, reminding her of their own wedding not very long ago, but she could do nothing to stop it all the same. 

“Don’t cry, baby.” 

Clarke waved her off, smiling and wiping at her cheeks. “Weddings make me emotional.” 

Lexa chuckled and stroked the back of her finger beneath Clarke’s eye. “You are such a sweetheart.” She held the van door open for her wife, and helped her in, climbing in next. “Makes you want to do it again, huh?” 

Clarke nodded and leaned into Lexa’s shoulder as they got settled, kissing her neck gently. “I’d marry you over and over again if I could.” 

***

The ceremony was perfect, and though Lexa didn’t know this particular colleague of Clarke’s very well, it was beautiful and moving, and it stirred her. The setting was gorgeous. The New Hampshire countryside could not have been more picturesque for a summer wedding. 

A wonderfully nostalgic and majestic old barn sat atop the greenest grass imaginable, rivaled only by the magnificent mountains in the far-off distance, and the lush forest surrounding the field on three sides. Inside, the barn glowed with mason jar lights and string after string of fairy lights strung around the rafters. 

Eucalyptus garland and magnolia flowers made the space feel as if it’d been taken straight from a wedding magazine. It was so stunning, you almost didn’t want to leave. But the ceremony had been quick, just a few vows and a handful of spiritual guidings to go around. 

Lexa couldn’t keep her eyes off her family the whole time. It truly did feel like yesterday that she had been on the other side of all this. They’d gone semi-traditional, with Lexa insisting that she be waiting at the end of the aisle. It had been a greedy motive. All she had wanted was more time to look at Clarke in her beautiful wedding dress. The image was imprinted on her mind, and had yet to fade even the slightest bit. She couldn’t imagine that it ever would. 

Ellie had changed very little, and at the same time, was an entirely new person. Just one year older, she had grown more and more into her personality every day. And yet, she was still the same rambunctious baby Lexa had fallen in love with that first day in the driveway. 

“Momma?” 

Ellie asked, standing between her mothers, both of their hands in hers, as they walked out of the barn. 

“Yes, baby?”

“Is the cake now?” 

Lexa laughed and met Clarke’s amused gaze before giving her daughter’s hand a gentle shake in teasing. “Hungry already? You just had breakfast.” 

“But I would like some cake now, please.” 

“How can I argue with those manners?” 

“Do not encourage her,” Clarke warned with an exasperatedly fond smile. 

“Mommy,” Ellie whined, tugging on Clarke’s hand now, hoping for better luck with this one. “You said!” 

“We will have cake, baby. But first, we have to eat lunch.” 

The small family approached the line of golf carts waiting to take the guests down to the party tent. Clarke and Lexa grinned uneasily at each other, unsure of what to make of the unique set up. Guests were piling into the tiny vehicles, over stuffed by at least three occupants in some occasions. 

“Where’s your mom? She’s going to have a heart attack when she sees this.” 

“She’s already down there.”  
  
“What? How?” 

“She drove down with the wedding party,” Clarke said, laughing at Lexa’s look of extreme consternation. 

“You’re kidding.” 

“Perks of being the bride’s boss.” 

“You’re the daughter of the boss, that’s got to count for something!” 

“Maybe so.” Clarke stepped up to the empty golf cart that pulled up, and extended her hand. “But wouldn’t you rather be on this adventure?” 

Lexa grinned. Check mate. “Well, when you put it that way.” 

“Come on, fella. We’ve got some dancing to do.” 

“And cake!” Ellie cheered, racing past them and launching herself into the golf cart. 

***  


The reception, held in a tent about a thousand feed down the slope of the field, was already a raucous affair by the time they walked in. Clarke was immediately swept up by her fellow interns. They were younger than her by her several years, but she was not so secretly admired for her experience and wisdom. Having gone back to med school after being a nurse practioner for five years had made her a popular study buddy and stand-in teacher during the start of their internship when the older residents were busy or too arrogant to answer questions. 

“It’s just you and me, kid,” Lexa said, taking the tiny hand Ellie offered up to her as they surveyed the happy crowd. “What should we do?” 

Ellie gave it a serious thought before making her decision. “Hit up the buffet,” she said, mimicing the words Lexa had been frequenting lately when telling her wife what she would be up to when Clarke went off to be the life of the party. 

Lexa smilled, delighted by her best little friend. “Great idea.” 

***

  
Clarke found them at the open bar nearly twenty-five minutes later, both of them slumped in their chairs, full on cucumber sandwiches and shirley temples. She laughed and shook her head as she approached them, worried either one of them may be seconds away from puking. 

“How are my girls?” 

“Full,” they said in unison. 

She laughed again and ran her hands over their heads. “I’m sorry, I got caught up. Dr. Lewis has never met a story he didn’t want to tell.” 

“He thinks you’re hot.” 

“Hot momma!” Ellie added, again mimicing another of Lexa’s frequent phrases. Clarke smiled fondly at the likeness of the two of them, beyond thrilled everytime she noticed more and more similarites between the two. There was no other person she’d rather have Ellie take after. 

A tall woman with striking features and long black hair that Lexa didn’t know, but Clarke smiled warmly at, crossed over to them, two young children in tow. “Hey, Clarke. And you...you must be the famous Lexa!” She exclaimed, extending her hand. “I’m Laura, I worked with Clarke on her ortho rotation.” 

“Nice to meet you.” 

“You’re right, Clarke, she’s very dashing,” Laura said, winking at Lexa as she turned to Clarke. “Frank and I are taking a group of kids to the barn to let off some steam. We wanted to invite Ellie.” 

Ellie gasped, her eyes going comically wide as she looked back and forth at her parents. “Please! Mommy, please!” 

When Clarke turned to look at Lexa, Ellie nearly leapt into Lexa’s lap. “Please, momma! Please, I’ll be good!” 

“It’s up to Mommy. She’s the boss.” 

“You’ll be up there?” Clarke asked, fighting the anxiety that always crept up on her when Ellie went out of her line of sight.

“Yes, Frank and I will be there.” 

“I suppose that’s fine…” she said, turning to Lexa for confirmation. When her wife shrugged and nodded, Clarke grew bolder in her decision. “Sure. Thanks for asking.” She grabbed Ellie as her daughter lept up and began a happy dance, coralling her in and bending close. “Be sure you can see Ms. Laura at all times, okay? Please don’t wander off.” 

“I won’t,” Ellie swore, adorably serious. “I’ll be good mommy. Promise.” 

“I know you will.” Clarke pulled her toward her and kissed the top of her head before patting her bottom and sending her on her way. 

“She’ll be fine,” Lexa murmured, standing and pulling her wife into her side. 

“I know.” 

“Shall we dance?” 

***

The dance floor was crowded, but Lexa only had eyes for Clarke. God, she was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. There were moments still, moments like this, where Lexa could hardly believe that this was her life. For so long, it had seemed that this time with Clarke, this intimacy, would never exist, though she tried. They’d been married a year, and it still felt like a dream.  
  
Clarke dropped her head to Lexa’s shoulder and lazily looped her arms around her neck. 

“Tired?” They were on their third dance, but Lexa didn’t want to stop. She didn’t ever want to give up the feeling of Clarke in her arms. 

“Mmm. Just happy.” 

“Me too.” 

“Maybe we should renew our vows. Just to get to do this all over again.” 

“You and me. An Italian villa or Swiss ski chalet.” 

“No snow,” Clarke groaned, pressing closer. 

“Okay. The French rivera.” 

“Fancy, fancy, Woods.” 

“I treat my lady right.” 

Clarke pulled back and beamed up at her wife, curling her fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck. “That’s an understatment.” 

Lexa smiled back, but it immediately faltered. She felt it before she heard it. The hair on her forearms stood up as her stomach plummeted. No, it wasn’t just a feeling, it was something else. A smell...she knew that smell. 

She jerked up straight, her eyes catching on the black cloud billowing up in the distance as Laura’s frantic face came into startling relief. The woman couldn’t be heard at first over the music and the talking, the general merriment. What dissonance it created. Laura’s panic-stricken face, her frenetic shouts against the smiles and laughter of a wedding party. 

Fire. The barn was on fire. Her words rang in Lexa’s ears as the merriment fell off and the crowd stared. Lexa was moving before Laura even reached them, blowing past the orthopedic surgeon in a blur.

At the back of her mind, she could hear her name on Clarke’s tongue. She didn’t stop, knowing that her wife would follow if she so pleased. She lauched out of the tent and grabbed the nearest uniformed driver, demanded his keys, and sprinted to the designated golf cart. 

She could have screamed at how slow it went. Maybe she did. She couldn’t hear anything but the thundering of her heart in her ears. The smoke was already so high, so black. It was burning fast and hot, all of that hay on the floor as good as lighter fluid.

Her stomach lept into her throat as she crested the hill and caught her first glimpse of the barn. It was completly engulfed in flames, not a single entry point left unscathed. Ellie. Oh god, Ellie had gone to the barn not thirty minutes ago. How had this gone up so quickly? 

She hadn’t heard anyone following, but as soon as she leapt out of the golf cart, she was surrounded by a growing crowd. Clarke was at her side immediately, her voice steady, but her eyes filled with terror. She grabbed Lexa’s arm, her fingers a vice grip on Lexa’s sleeve. 

“Someone said the children are out. They were at the treeline playing when the barn went up. They think a one of the mason jars burst,” Clarke said, having to shout over the sounds of the whipping wind and roaring flames. 

Lexa whipped around, eyes searching the treeline five hundred feet away. “Is Ellie there? Does he have her?” 

Finally, Clarke’s facade wavered and her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know.” 

“Fuck!” Lexa yanked off her jacket and began wrapping it around her face. “Stay back. Keep everyone back.” 

“Lexa, no--” 

“You’ve got to keep people back. This wind is throwing embers everywhere.” 

Clarke latched onto the back of Lexa’s shirt, tugging her back. “Wait for the fire department.” 

“I am the fire department!” Lexa snapped, panic sharpening her voice. She began to pull away, but stopped when Clarke whimpered, tightening her grip. It killed the rage inside of her, and she immedietely softened. “Sweetheart,” she said, her voice gentlyer now. “It’s okay.” 

Clarke shook her head, tears tumbling down her cheeks. “You have nothing to protect yourself.” 

“I have to check, Clarke. Our baby could be inside. I have to check.” 

Clarke hesitated a moment longer, her gaze locked with Lexa’s. She had seen what was about to happen more times than she would prefer, and as terrifying as each time was, Lexa had always been decked out in 75 pounds of protective equipment and gear. Now, her wife wore suit pants, dress shoes, and a button-up shirt for protection. She looked so terribly vulnerable, but the intensity in Lexa’s eyes never wavered. 

“Please be careful,” she said at last, releasing her grip on Lexa’s shirt. “Please.” 

“Keep everyone back. I can’t find our little girl I’m worried about people running inside.” 

“I will.” 

Lexa nodded and was gone, disappearing into the thick wall of smoke between the crowd and the barn. Clarke’s eyes immediately stung and she quickly turned away, determined to help her wife as best she could. “Stay back,” she shouted, walking back towards the crowd. She had a job to do. She’d be damned if she let Lexa down.

***

The air was all smoke inside the barn, immediately filling Lexa’s lungs and making her dizzy. She wanted to gag, but her training kicked in, and she dropped to her knees, finding the clearest air she could. She held her jacket close to her face, filtering out what she could as she held her phone infront of her, the flashlight turned on. 

It illuminated no more than a foot infront of her, but it was enough to navigate through. She looked around, searching for signs life. Everything around her was burning. It was both eerily silent and terribly loud, all at once. 

“Hello!” She shouted, coughing immediately as a result. “Call out if you can hear my voice!”

She stilled, listening against the groaning of the burning wood. Nothing more came, and she pushed on, running her hand along the floor to navigate to the edge of the barn, then to the center. She repeated her call, hearing nothing in response each time. Her dread grew, knowing it meant one of two things. There was no one inside, or they were all unresponsive. 

Time passed in a vaccuum, but she knew she had to get out when her world began to spin no matter how many times she shook her head. She went back the way she came, jumping up to run the rest of the way out as soon as daylight broke through a piece of the roof that had caved in. 

Falling to her knees, she coughed and hacked, her lungs fighting against the thick mucus that coated her bronchial tubes in an effort to protect them from the acrid smoke. Her oxgen saturation was too low, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She needed a couple of big gulps of air, and then she’d go back in. 

“Lexa!” 

She turned on one knee, steadying herself on the ground with her hand as the sky spun and tilted on its axis. A man she didn’t know ran towards her, helping her to her feet.

“Frank has them!” He shouted, tugging her away and swatting at the elbow of her sleeve she hadn’t realized was onfire until she was helping him to put it out.

“The children?” She asked, searchin his face.

“Yes. He’s got them at the treeline.”  


“All of them?”  


“He said so.” 

Lexa shook in relief, the adrenaline coursing full voume through her bloodstream now. “You’re sure?” 

“That’s what he said.” 

“Okay,” she said, nodding in exhaustion. “Okay. Where are they now?” 

Lexa picked out her mother-in-law’s face in the crowd immediately, running towards her when she saw the distress on her face. 

“Where’s Clarke,” Abby asked, frantically looking around for her child. 

  
“What?

“Where’s Clarke? I thought she was with you!” 

“Why would she be with me?” 

“She went inside,” Abby gasped, reaching out for Lexa as soon as she was within reach. “Oh god, she went inside after you!” 

Lexa ears began to ring and nothing was making sense. Clarke inside? No. Oxygen deprivation. Delirium. She shook her head. “That’s not possible.” 

“She went in looking for Ellie!” 

“No. No that’s not---that man--he said Frank has all the children at the treeline!” 

Abby’s face immediately contorted, tears streaming down her cheeks. She shook her head, barely able to speak. “No,” she whispered, visible shaking. “No, I was just there.” 

“That’s...that’s not possible. He just said--” 

“They were outside of the barn when it started. They were playing hide and seek. The children were supposed to go to the treeline once they had been found. The little boy who was it never found Ellie. Frank was turning around to head back to the barn when he noticed the flames. Oh my god,” she moaned, releasing Lexa to wrap her arms around herself. “Oh my god, Lexa! My babies...my babies are inside.” 

A siren blasted through the air as Lexa struggled to speak. She turned as a large rig flew up the hill, pulling to a stop. Firemen unloaded out the truck, quickly and efficiently, shouting instructions at each other. Lexa watched them for a moment, disoriented at being on the wrong end of things.

“Stay here,” she ordered, her dread turning her voice to stone. 

  
She ran to the truck and grabbed one of the men as he leapt down from the seat. “I’m fire captain Lexa Woods of station 433 in Polis, Maine. You can call it in if you need to verify, but I need your gear.” 

The young man looked at her like she was insane, and tried to shrug her off. “M’am, I’m going to need you to stand back.” 

“That’s not happening. Call it in. Verify it. I don’t care, just give me a fucking coat and a mask!” 

“What’s going on here?” A booming voice called out behind them. “Lexa?” 

“Jack?!” Lexa stared at the man who had been her first fire captain nearly ten years ago. 

“Oh my god. What are the odds?” 

“Jack, listen. My wife and child are inside. I know you have a job to do, but please. Please. I need to go inside.” 

“Lexa--” 

“I know. Please, Jack, you know I wouldn’t--” her voice cracked, and tears sprang to her eyes. She shook her head, speechless. “Please,” she whispered. 

He frowned at her, his eyes filled with sympathy. Lexa felt like she was going to be sick. He was going to reject her. Turn her away and tell her to trust him. Her world was ending and there was nothing she could do to stop it. 

***

One minute later, she was pushing through the barn once more, this time with full gear and a 1000 lumen floodlight in her hand. The sound of her breathing in the mask muffled all other sounds around her, but it was a welcome, familiar sound. 

She looked around, crouching below the thick layer of smoke once more. “Clarke!” 

Only the building responded, answering in the creaks and moans of wood burning faster than its structure could withstand. “Clarke!” 

She pushed deeper into the structure, dodging the pieces of support beam that crashed to the ground around her until she was nearly at the back of the barn with nowhere else to look. She spun in a circle, desperately searching, her breath growing frantic. “Clarke!” 

“Lex--” 

It was so very quiet. There was no way she should of heard it, but she did. Behind her, there was a rustle, and then her name once more. Lexa whipped around, shining her light at the bottom of a staircase that led to the hay loft. 

Clarke lay there, her back propped against the side of the bottom step. She was terrifying still. 

“Clarke,” Lexa breathed, racing to her and dropping to her knees. She ripped off her mask, and put it over Clarke’s face, pressing it hard to create a suction. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.” 

Clarke’s eyes blinked open so slowly, Lexa’s heart nearly stopped. She was fading quickly. 

“Hey,” Clarke whispered, struggling to keep her eyes open. 

Lexa laguhed through her tears. “Hey yourself. What are you doing, hero?” 

“I found her, Lex.” Weakly, Clarke lifted her gaze toward the loft. Of course. Ellie always hid at the top of the old fire pole at the station when they played hide and seek. The stairs here, and the ones she climbed countless times at the fire station, were nearly identical. Of course she would go there. 

“You found her, baby.” 

“I’m so tired, Lex.” 

“Just rest now. You did so good, Clarke. You found her. I need to get you out of here now.” 

“No. No, just go get her, Lex. Go get our girl.” 

Lexa looked around, her gaze falling on a sliver of white light pushing through the back of the barn. “Hold on, baby.” She scooped Clarke up, her protests weak, nearly lifeless. Lexa pushed the terror aside and stood, running as fast as she could toward the sliver of light. She curled Clarke into her body, shielding her face in the crook of her neck as she rammed her shoulder into the splintering back door. 

They burst through together, falling to the ground as hose water rained down on them. A firefighter was immediately by their side, pulling Lexa’s mask away from Clarke’s face and replacing it with a medical oxygen mask. 

“Get me another mask,” Lexa ordered to a second firefighter as he appeared and disappeared just as quickly. 

Clarke coughed as clean oxygen filled her lungs, and her senses almost immediately came back to her. She looked up, panic dawning as she realized where she was. She fought against the man tending to her, clawing unapologetically at the thick, gloved hand holding her down. 

“Lexa!” 

  


“Stay with him, baby,” Lexa called, taking the mask that was handed to her.

“Lexa, please!” Clarke shouted, unsure of what she was even pleading for. She needed her wife. She needed her child. She needed this nightmare to end. 

Lexa cupped her wife’s face and looked into her eyes. “I’m going to go get our little girl. I need you to stay here.” Lexa didn’t wait for a nod. She kissed Clarke’s forehead, then took off, pushing back through the hole she’d made in the wall, ignoring the flames that licked throughin search of the new source of oxygen. 

The stairs rocked beneath her, weak and threatening to cave with each step. But Lexa never slowed. She took them two at a time until she reached the top, frantically looking around. It was a large loft. Larger than she was expecting, nearly covering half the squarefootage of the space below. 

“Ellie!” 

She ran acrooss the floor, amazed at how sturdy it still was. There were open window holes everywhere, allowing the smoke to flood out without accumulating in the air. She realized with a glimmer of hope that it was the safest place Ellie could be. 

“Ellie! Baby, it’s momma, call out if you can hear me!” 

She rounded a corner, running down the left side of the loft now. She slowed, shining her flash light into the hollowed out spaces for hay storage. 

“Ellie! Ellie, it’s mom--” 

Something tugged at her pants, and she looked down, her heart leaping into her throat at the sight of a tiny hand wrapped around the material. That tiny hand attached to the trembling arm of her four year old, and Lexa nearly burst into tears.

Covered in soot, Ellie sat shoved as far back into a corner as she could get. Her knees were drawn so tightly to her chest, she looked smaller than Lexa could remember her being in a long time. 

“Oh jesus christ,” she breathed, dropping to her knees. “Oh thank god.” 

“Momma!” Ellie wailed, reaching for Lexa, but not moving from her spot. 

“I’ve got you, baby. Hang on. I’m going to put this over your face, okay? It’s going to help you breathe.” 

Ellie shook her head, terrified of the large, black mask. 

“It’s alright Ellie. It’s like your goggles. Your goggles help you swim under water, right? This is going to help you just like that.” 

“I want to go home!” 

“I know baby, just listen to momma, okay? I’m going to get us out of here, but I need you to put this mask on. Momma will help. Just lean forward.” 

Ellie did as she was told, curling back up into her ball once the mask was securely on her face. Lexa shrugged out of her protective jacket, and wrapped it around Ellie, the thing completely swamping her from head to toe. Afraid Ellie would fight her if given warning, Lexa swiftly scooped her up and held her to her chest, giving her no time to protest. She stood and began running all in one motion as the barn creaked and groaned louder beneath her. 

She knew it was beginning to cave in on itself. She raced to the top of the stairs and stopped, trying to ascertain their stability. If they folded beneath her, she risked breaking her legs as they plummeted to the hard ground below. But with it being the only way down, she didn’t have much of a choice. 

She held Ellie closer to her and held her breath, stepping onto the first stair. When it held, she released her breath and jogged down the next two, then the third, the fourth, until she was sprinting the rest of the way down and to the back of the barn. 

The white light pouring in was stronger now as ton after ton of water rained down from the fire truck’s hose, dousing the flames. The white clouds were nearly blinding as she burst through the remaining back wall. 

It was instant chaos. People surrounded her, grabbed at her mask and the bundle in her arms. Instinctively, Lexa held on tighter. Ellie’s wails pierced through it all, and she was quickly grounded by the panicked sounds issuing from her. 

“It’s alright,” she soothed, mindlessly following a fellow firefighter to the open back of an ambulance. “Momma’s right here, Ellie.” 

She buried her face in Ellie’s hair, kissing her over and over again, even as her lungs began to raise hell and her legs went dangerously weak. 

“Lexa!” 

Lexa looked up, relief consuming her as Clarke jumped up from the back of the ambulance and ran to her, pulling them into her arms. “Oh my god,” she cried. “Oh my god, baby.” 

“She’s okay,” Lexa gasped. “She’s okay.” 

Abby was there a moment later, pushing the paramedics out of the way to take Ellie’s vitals herself. Lexa hovered close by, refusing the oxygen mask until Clarke took it and placed it over Lexa’s face herself. 

“Mom,” Clarke said, trying to press closer. 

“Let me work, Clarke.” 

“She’s alright,” Lexa murmured, squeezing Clarke’s hand. 

“M’am if you’d just let me,” the young paramedic sighed. 

“Take one more step, and I’ll have you riding the desk for the rest of your career,” Abby snapped as she waved a pinlight in front of Ellie’s face, conducting the end of a neuro check. 

“Mom, be nice.” 

“She’s fine,” Abby stated, ignoring her daughter as she stood up and took an appraising look of her grandaughter. “She fine,” she repeated. She nodded, her hands going to her hips. She did not turn around though, only stood there, staring down at Ellie. 

Lexa saw the moment Abby’s shoulders began to shake. And she undestood immediately. Abby was still terrified. 

“We’re alright,” she murmured, stepping closer to place her hand on Abby’s shoulder. Abby shook her head, crying audibly now. “Everything’s okay.” 

“I know,” Abby gasped. She turned and roughly pulled Lexa into a hug. “I know. Thank you.” 

Lexa held her close with one arm, her other wrapping around Ellie and pulling her close. Clarke pressed to her back and buried her face in Lexa’s neck, her cheeks wet from the tears that still fell. They held each other for a long moment, the nightmare finally over.

***

It felt like days later that Lexa sat on the couch in a hospital room, holding an oxygen mask to her face. In reality, it had only been a couple of hours. With Ellie admitted overnight for observation, and fast asleep in the bed just a few feet away, and Clarke in the Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber, Lexa had nothing but her shot nerves to keep her company. 

“You need anything, dear?” A nurse asked as she walked into the room with Lexa’s dirty clothes. Dirty or not, Lexa would crawl back into them and out of this horrid robe in a heartbeat if she thought this nurse wouldn’t beat her silly for it. 

“I’m good,” she mumbled. 

“You sure?” 

“Yep.” 

“So you wouldn’t like a visit from your wife then?” 

“What?” Lexa shot up, the oxygen mask falling from her face. 

Clarke rounded the doorframe and grinned, quietly thaking the nurse as the old woman chuckled and left the room. 

“Hey baby,” Lexa breathed, irrerverant and so relieved. “You okay?” 

“Yeah,” Clarke said, softly. She took Lexa’s extended hand and joined her on the couch. She was exhausted and nauseous, but she was alive, and her family was intact. She couldn’t have been happier. “How you doing, champ? Your o-sat’s looking better.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. Don’t worry about me.” 

“I always will.” Clarke leaned her head on Lexa’s shoulder and pulled her hand into her lap. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Don’t thank me. I just did what you did, except I had a mask and gear.”

“Not at first.” 

“Maybe not. But you’re the bravest person I know.” 

“Agree to disagree,” Clarke said, so slowly it was a wonder she wasn’t already asleep. 

Lexa smiled and leaned back against the arm of the couch, pulling Clarke with her and onto her chest. “I love you. You know that?” 

Clark nodded, and kissed the soft skin of Lexa’s throat. “We love you so much. You’re our world.” 

Lexa smiled. Maybe that was true. Maybe she was their world. The only thing she knew for certain, was that they were the earth, moon and stars, and everything in between. She had her entire universe safe and sound in this room, and that was all she would ever need.  
  



End file.
